Animals

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doubutsu
1 animals
動物

buta
2 pig
豚

hitsuji
3 sheep
羊

inu
4 dog
犬

kaba
5 hippopotamus
かば（河馬）

kitsune
6 fox
狐

kirin
7 giraffe
きりん（麒麟）

kuma
8 bear
熊

neko
9 cat
猫

nezumi
10 mouse
ねずみ（鼠）

ookami
11 wolf
狼

raion
12 lion
ライオン

rakuda
13 camel
らくだ（駱駝）

risu
14 squirrel
りす（栗鼠）

saru
15 monkey
猿

shika
16 deer
鹿

shimauma
17 zebra
しまうま（縞馬）

18 tora tiger
 虎

tori
19 bird
鳥

usagi
20 rabbit
うさぎ（兎）

ushi
21 cow, ox
牛

uma
22 horse
馬

yagi
23 goat
やぎ（山羊）

zou
24 elephant
象

Although there are kanji characters for (5) kaba, (7) kirin, (10) nezumi, (13) rakuda, (14) risu, (17)
shimauma、(20) usagi and (23) yagi, they are normally written in hiragana or katakana.

The counter for small animals is "hiki（匹）" and for large animals is "tou（頭）".

Inu ga go-hiki imasu.

There are five dogs.
犬が五匹います。

Watashi wa kuma o
ni-tou mimashita. I saw two bears
私は熊を二頭見ました。
 Body
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karada
body
体

atama
head
頭

kami
hair
髪

kao
face
顔

hitai
forehead
額

me
eye
目

mayu
eyebrow
眉

mabuta
eyelid
まぶた

matsuge
eyelash
まつげ

hana
nose
鼻

mimi
ear
耳

kuchi
mouth
口

kuchibiru
lip
唇

ha
teeth
歯

shita
tongue
舌

nodo
throat
のど
 ago
jaw
あご

kubi
neck
首

kata
shoulder
肩

ude
arm
腕

hiji
elbow
ひじ

te
hand
手

yubi
finger
指

tsume
nail
爪

mune
chest
胸

senaka
back
背中

onaka
stomach
おなか

ashi
foot, leg
足

hiza
knee
ひざ

ashikubi
ankle
足首

kakato
heel
かかと

tsumasaki
toe
つま先

Click here to learn expressions to describe health problems. To learn expressions including the word "atama
(head)," click here.
 Colors
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iro
colors
色

ao
blue
青

aka
red
赤

chairo
brown
茶色

daidaiiro
orange
橙色

haiiro
gray
灰色

kiiro
yellow
黄色

kimidori
light green
黄緑

kuro
black
黒

midori
green
緑

mizuiro
light blue
水色

momoiro
pink
桃色

murasaki
purple
紫

shiro
white
白
 Sukina iro wa nan desu ka.
What is your favorite color?
好きな色は何ですか。

In Japanese, all colors are treated as nouns, unlike English (Colors are treated as adjectives or nouns in
English). Click here to see how to write the colors of the rainbow in kanji.

Audio Phrasebook

Calendar
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Months

ichigatsu
January
一月

nigatsu
February
二月

sangatsu
March
三月

shigatsu
April
四月

gogatsu
May
五月

rokugatsu
June
六月

shichigatsu
July
七月

hachigatsu
August
八月

kugatsu
September
九月

juugatsu
October
十月

juuichigatsu
November
十一月

juunigatsu December
 十二月

There is no capitalization in Japanese. Months are basically numbers (1~12) + gatsu. Pay attention to April,
July and September. April is shigatsu not yongatsu, July is shichigatsu not nanagatsu and September is
kugatsu not kyuugatsu. Click here to learn the old names of the months.

The Days of the Week

nichiyoubi
Sunday
日曜日

getsuyoubi
Monday
月曜日

kayoubi
Tuesday
火曜日

suiyoubi
Wednesday
水曜日

mokuyoubi
Thursday
木曜日

kinyoubi
Friday
金曜日

doyoubi
Saturday
土曜日

Kyou wa nan youbi desu ka.

What day is it today?
今日は何曜日ですか。

Four Seasons

shiki
four seasons
四季

haru
spring
春

natsu
summer
夏

aki
fall
秋

fuyu
winter
冬

Click here for how to write the four seasons in hiragana.

 Dates
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The basic rule for dates is number + nichi. For example, juuichi-nichi (11th), juuni-nichi (12th), nijuugo-nichi
(25th) and so on. However, 1st~10th, 14th, 20th and 24th are irregular.

tsuitachi
1st
一日

futsuka
2nd
二日

mikka
3rd
三日

yokka
4th
四日

itsuka
5th
五日

muika
6th
六日

nanoka
7th
七日

youka
8th
八日

kokonoka
9th
九日

tooka
10th
十日

juuyokka
14th
十四日
 hatsuka
20th
二十日

nijuuyokka
24th
二十四日